@steffanyojeda_art
www.steffanyojeda.com

Steffany Ojeda

Steffany Ojeda is a LatinX artist and educator who creates work surrounding contemporary social justice. She is inspired to create work which exemplifies her experiences living in the greater New York City area. Steffany has received awards for her achievements within the field of art education such as the NJDOE lighthouse award, Governor’s Teacher of the Year Honoree and Teacher of the year. Her practice focuses on publicly engaging technology to challenge social constructs. Her studio is located in Jersey City while working as a Lead Art Teacher for high schools in New Jersey.

Calibrating the Culture: On Tech, Race and Holding Space: Ojeda is interested in creating an interactive space where community is reflected either directly or indirectly through the use of technology. When societal issues are addressed or resolved, the social norms change to fit the needs addressed–and then new ones that arise. In the case of representation, creating work that display’s one’s own image at the central point of analysis comes with a vulnerability. This is why true autonomy in the creative space comes with the support of work that does not require the body to determine effectiveness. When representation is the dominant subject matter for garnering institutional support, doors close for artist autonomy. Ojeda creates work that directly reflects community through data collection by audience participation. She also– in the reverse– creates work that removes the body all together to challenge vulnerability as a necessity for institutionally backed validity. She recognizes that artists creating work in their own image comes from a vulnerable place. She works to remove her self image from the art as an act of power– challenging systems of critique, access and expectation.